The Arizona men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball teams entered the National Intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball Tournament with home-court advantage, playing at McKale Center at ALKEME Arena, but both teams fell short of their title hopes.

Arizona hosted the tournament from April 1-4, allowing the wheelchair basketball teams the chance to play at McKale, an opportunity they have only had during halftime of men’s basketball games. 

“I’ve got to experience seeing the basketball team playing here at McKale and those are always amazing games,” said Broden Nagle, a freshman on the men’s team. “Just being able to get the same opportunity has been quite spectacular.”

This year’s tournament brought a dozen men’s teams and four women’s teams from colleges around the country to compete in Tucson. Both Arizona’s men’s and women’s squads were the three seeds in their respective brackets.

Title defense falls short

The men’s team entered the tournament as the defending champs, having won the 2025 title after beating UT Arlington last year at State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill. 

Looking to defend their national title, the men’s squad played Southwest Minnesota State University on Thursday, April 2. 

Arizona got off to a strong start, with contributions from starters Nagle and Carlos Reynoso. The Wildcats held a 34-19 lead at halftime, but SMSU was able to rally back in the second half.

The Mustangs got off to a hot start to open the third quarter and took a lead that they maintained for the rest of the game. SMSU overcame late-game efforts from Arizona, winning 66-57, dashing the Wildcats’ hopes for back-to-back titles.

Despite the loss, Arizona bounced back the next day for their game against Wisconsin-Whitewater on Friday, April 3. Whitewater started strong, but the Wildcats kept the game close in the first two quarters, trailing the Warhawks by one point at halftime.

In the second half, Arizona was able to find their rhythm offensively and defeated Whitewater 69-58 in the final game of their season.

Despite not bringing home the title again this year, the young Arizona team has a bright future.

“We’re a young team and we’re just building up over the next few years,” said Nagle, who was recently named to the All-American First Team. “Hopefully we’ll do better than we did this year. We’re only trying to get better.”

Arizona women struggle to keep pace

The women’s team started the tournament facing off against UT Arlington in their first round match on Thursday, April 2. Arizona had a strong offensive output in the first half, led by junior Elise Froese. The Wildcats trailed 40-31 at halftime.

In the second half, the Movin’ Mavs were able to pull away, defeating the Wildcats 78-55.

On Friday, April 3, Arizona played Illinois in a shot for the third place trophy. The Fighting Illini could not miss to start the game, taking a 37-11 lead at halftime.

The Wildcats turned things around, outscoring Illinois in the second half thanks to contributions from Lily Lautenschlager and Rae Rodriguez. This late game push proved to be too little too late, as Arizona fell 60-41.

Adaptive Athletics on a national stage

The tournament concluded on Saturday, April 4, with Auburn taking home the men’s national title and Alabama winning the women’s title.

For Arizona, hosting the National Intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball National Championships meant a chance to showcase the sport of wheelchair basketball.

“We’ve been around for 51 years and we finally get to play in front of families, friends and students at McKale, which is one of the most historic basketball venues on the planet,” said Peter Hughes, director of Arizona Adaptive Athletics.

It was a special experience for both student athletes and fans, he said.

“I’m hoping that people are enjoying the game, they like the game and they’ll want to see the game again as we play for our next 50 years,” he said.

Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.